Feel Good Friday

Hey, all!  :)
It's FRIDAY!!! YAY! 
Today I wanted to bring back to all of our awarenesses the fact that this challenge you're participating in is a lifestyle change and not a fad diet, that it's not a deprivation diet filled with rules that causes binges, but it's a realistic, slow change for better health, & that we should only put things on ourselves that are maintainable and realistic.  Does that make sense?  It's not going to be achievable if I say I will never eat another piece of chocolate.  What's more important is LEARNING portion control, LEARNING how exercise counteracts calories consumed, LEARNING to enjoy things in moderation, LEARNING when your body is really hungry and when you're just eating socially or emotionally, LEARNING to interpret what those cravings mean, LEARNING to live life feeling satisfied and fulfilled and with a happy tummy, LEARNING to make steady progress and consistent healthy lifestyle choices instead of living on a rollercoaster.  Can you beautiful ladies share any experiences or thoughts you have on that subject?  I'd LOVE to hear :) Have a great weekend!

Feel the Burn Thursday

Good morning, divas!
How are you doing?  Day Four!
Share what workouts you've been doing the last 4 days!

Here's a little post-running series I put together recently after doing a Yoga for Runners DVD, and from playing around on my own, but these poses feel really good on my hips, hamstrings, & low back after a run.  It's not meant to strengthen, for that you'd do a different style of yoga or pilates.  It's meant to loosen and open.  I'll try my best to describe the poses, but if it still doesn't make sense, just Google :) or let me know.  The whole thing can be done in a flow with just a couple breaths in each pose taking about 10 mins total, or you can spend as much time in each pose as you feel like, taking a really long time.  Just do whatever your body wants to do.  Give it a try, though!

• Standing savasana: Stand tall and straight, big toes touching, heels slightly apart, sides of the feet parallel to sides of your mat.  Palms of your hands facing forward.  Shoulders relaxed and directly over hips. Ears back slightly to be over shoulders.  Inner thighs slightly spiraled towards the wall behind you.  Just take a little bit to chill here, purpose being to feel proper body alignment w/ joints stacked over one another, having just gone for an awesome run.  You can also do a body inventory & see how every part of your body is feeling, see what's sore or what's tight.  You can have a chance to slow down your breath.  Try to slow it all the down to a six count inhale and a six count exhale.

• Ragdoll: Step your feet out to hip width, about 6 inches apart, or two fists-width.  Stand with strong legs and fold at the hips forward.  Let your upper body and your head hang down loose.  With your hands grab the opposite elbow.  Let gravity lengthen your spine.  Can bend your knees slightly.  An inversion like this with the head below the heart will invigorate your brain w/ all the blood rushing to it, after having spent so long in a run w/ gravity pulling your blood to your extremities.  It will also relax you.  This will gentlly start to stretch hamstrings & low back.  Inhale and slowly stand back up straight.

• Dandayamana Bibhapktapada Paschimotananasa (ok that one is just fun to say in Sanskrit :) ) a.k.a. Standing Separate Leg Forward Fold:  While standing upright, step feet out to 5 feet apart.  Sides of feet parallel to each other.  Inhale arms out to a T at your sides.  Exhale fold forward at the hips with a flat back, going only as far forward as you can with a flat back.  If your back starts to round, go back a smidge.  With your hands, grasp wherever you can, your thighs, your calves, your ankles, or under your heels.  Use arm strength to pull the hip stretch and hamstring stretch further.  Rocking your body weight into the balls of your feet will allow your hamstrings to relax and stretch further.  When done, inhale arms back out to the sides in a T and slowly come back upright to standing, bring legs back together.

• Tabletop:  Get down on all fours on your mat.  Shoulders directly over your wrists.  Hips directly over your knees.  Tops of feet flat on the mat.  From here you can move however feels good, swirling your hips around like you're churning butter, etc.  This loosens up your hips more.

• Cat:  Come back into a still tabletop.  On exhales, arch your back up like a cat.  On inhales, dip your lower back down like a cow.  Do this however much you want, really slowly, focusing on creating space between each vertebra, undoing the compression and you did on your run.

• Downward Dog:  Keeping your feet and hands in the SAME place on your mat (shoulder width & hip width apart), curl your toes under, and push yourself up to downward dog so your butt is up in the air like an upside down V.  Work towards the getting the bottom of your feet flat on the mat, but also play with bending your knees and feeling the stretch differently there.  Sit bones tilt towards the ceiling.  This stretches the hamstrings, calves, shoulders, back, etc.

• Runner's Lunge: From downward dog, inhale your right leg up in the air behind you, and exhale swing it through underneath you and place your right foot outside your right hand, on the right edge and maybe slightly off your mat, toes pointing out.  Lower your upper body down to the left of your right thigh, whatever feels good.  This is a major hip opener and stretch.   Move however you want here, maybe working towards getting your forearms on the mat, or maybe just staying upright with your hands on the mat, or maybe really slow circles with your hips.  When done, inhale and bring your right foot back and return to downward dog.  Do the other side the same way.

• Half Pigeon: From downward dog, inhale your right leg up in the air behind you, and exhale swing it through underneath you and place the outside of your right knee down on the mat by your right hand, and the outside of your right ankle to the left side of your mat, maybe by your left hip, or maybe if you're really flexy, closer to your left hand.  Whatever feels good.  Bring your hips down to the mat, your left leg is straight out behind you, top of the foot flat against the mat.  Check that hips are level, one's not further back than the other.  Then if you want, you can start to lower your upper body down, maybe your elbows & forearms are on the mat in front of you, or maybe you can put your forehead on the mat in front of you, or maybe you just stay upright and just your fingertips are on the mat.  When done, inhale and push up onto your hands, bring your right foot back up and behind you and return to downward dog.  Do the other side the same way.  This is a big hip opener, too.  This is one that Jen R taught me long before I ever took my first yoga class :)

• Child's Pose:  From downward dog, bring your knees to the mat.  Sit on your feet, big toes touching, knees out shoulder width or maybe as wide as your mat.  Lower your upper body down and your arms out in front of you, palms & forehead down on the mat.  Completely relax into this posture.  Your belly drops down between your thighs, let it hang.  This feels good, but it also keeps on stretching the hips and knees.

• Seated Forward Fold:  From Child's pose, inhale up to tabletop then move to sit your bottom on the mat, legs out in front of you, knees feet and ankles touching.  With your hands, move the junk in your trunk out to the side so that your sit bones are deeply rooted into the mat and level.  Knees are bent.  Inhale your arms up above your head, lengthen your straight spine up, and with a flat back fold forward grabbing your big toes with your peace fingers (your knees are majorly bent so you can do this).  Then with a very very straight back and grasping your big toes, slowly start to scoot your heels away from you on exhales.  On inhales straigthen and lenthen the spine.  Your pelvic bowl is going to tip forwards to make this happen.  Go to where it doesn't hurt but the hamstring and low back stretch feels really good.  If you're really bendy flexy and you've actually gotten your legs flat to the ground and your spine is still perfectly straight, THEN you can round down your back down and touch your forehead to your knees if you want.  Inhale back up to seated.

• Supine Twist:  From seated, lay back on your mat so you're laying completely on the ground.  Inhale, bring your right knee up to the sky above your hip and grab it with your left hand. Exhale, gently pull that knee to your left side, maybe all the way to the ground.  T-out your arms at your side.  Your left leg is straight out and relaxed.  Relax your whole body, stretching & twisting your spine and stretching your hips.  Inhale and bring your knee back upright, and exhale it down to the floor by your other leg.  Do the other side the same way.

• Bound Angle Pose: Laying flat on your back on the mat, bring your knees apart and out to the sides and the bottoms of your feet to touch.  Bring your feet as close to your booty as you can.  Let your knees hang loose to the side.  Gravity stretches and opens your hips and inner thighs here.  No need to push or strain, just let yourself flop open and relax.  When done, scoot heels and legs back together so you're just laying flat on the mat again.

• Cow:  From laying flat on the mat, inhale and bring your knees up to the sky above your hips.  Cross your right leg over your left leg, like you're sitting cross-legged in a chair.  Knees are compressed.  Grasp with your hands the backside of your your left thigh and on an exhale slowly pull towards you.  This feels really good on the glutes, hamstrings, and hips.  When done, release hands, switch out which knee's on top, and repeat on the other side.

• Savasana:  Release your legs down on the mat.  Lay flat on your back, heels touching, letting your toes splay open to the sides, palms facing up, shoulderblades together on your back so your heart is raised up to the sky and there's no tension in your neck, and relax.  Same as the first pose only laying down, take a full body inventory of how you feel.  Slow deep breathing.

And yay! You're done! 

For me this feels REALLY REALLY good post-run :)  I hope you guys enjoy it!

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Hi, ladies!
Thanks for sharing all of your little successes from yesterday.  I loved it!
Share today what you've been eating lately!
And don't forget to check out the link on the left side bar to go to the page w/ recipes.  If you share recipes on here, I'll post them on there so we can all have access to them easily.  Or you can email them if you'd prefer.  Or if you have a ton to post, let me know & I'll add you as an author to that blog and you can post whatever you want to it.

This article written by a performance nutritionist is great Optimal Fuel for High Octane Workouts, albeit a little technical, but I've pulled out here to share the parts that I thought the most useful.  Cortisol is a fat storer.

• "Research shows that the more conditioned an individual becomes (exercising on a regular basis), the less cortisol is secreted during exercise. One more reason to adhere to a regular athletic lifestyle! Consuming the proper nutrients before and after exercise can protect both the beginning exerciser and the conditioned athlete.
• When the body is stressed, as in intense exercise, it isn’t interested in digesting food. Instead, most of the blood supply goes to the extremities, not to the stomach. You should therefore not consume a lot of solid food before intensive exercise.
• Contrary to popular belief, carbohydrates are not the best food source to consume just before training. They raise insulin levels, causing you to use glucose (sugar) as your primary fuel instead of a steady mixture of glucose and fatty acids.
• For best results and the highest growth hormone peaks, exercise on an empty stomach. If you do wish to eat before exercising, limit intake to 100 calories of easily digestible protein foods such as three-quarters of a cup of plain organic yogurt. Since the protein in yogurt is partially digested, it’s absorbed quicker than other protein-rich foods.
• After any athletic activity and especially weight training, the body requires refueling of its glycogen (stored sugar in liver and muscles) reserves. The body uses the enzyme glycogen synthetase to store sugar for future needs. Within a two-hour window after exercise, this enzyme is extra hungry. It’s the only time you can consume larger amounts of carbohydrates without worrying that they’ll convert to fat.
• Many of us make the mistake of consuming only simple carbohydrates post-exercise. This is wrong! Drinking carbohydrate beverages like Gatorade without sufficient protein after exercise will cause a drastic increase in insulin levels, bringing growth hormone and testosterone levels to a halt. New research confirms that protein mixed with carbohydrates after training allows for faster muscle recovery and greater hGH and testosterone increases.
• If solid food is your preference, consume a high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate and low-fat meal right after training. Solid food takes time to enter your bloodstream. Fat slows this process down considerably, taking away from the valuable timing of repair. Good food choices are plain organic yogurt with mixed fruit or egg whites and organic oatmeal. [Whole eggs and muesli are also excellent choices–Editor] The best fruits are from the berry family due to their low insulin-spiking effect and high antioxidant benefits. The combination allows for high hGH levels.
• An ideal way to increase the anabolic response immediately after exercise is to drink a mixture of no more than 25 grams of high-alpha whey-protein isolate and plain water in a shaker cup. The high-protein, zero-carbohydrate mix allows for a full surge of amino acids to enter the system without over-stimulating insulin levels. It also keeps hGH levels high. Up to one hour later, mix protein with carbohydrates to ensure rapid replacement of body sugars and protein for recovery.
• Combine from two to four parts carbohydrates to one part protein. The protein can again be an isolated whey protein for maximum timing and absorption value. The carbohydrates should come from berry fruits.
• Research confirms an increase in protein synthesis in the body for up to 36 hours following intense exercise (especially weight training). But the body can easily fall into a catabolic (breakdown) state if sufficient protein is not ingested at regular intervals throughout the day. Never allow more than three hours go by without a consuming a high quality protein. You’ll re-establish a proper hormonal environment that will set the body on anabolic mode, allowing for continued improvements from any exercise program."

Ok, so all that technical stuff, but still good info & still stuff we've been saying all along.  Be sure to eat very lightly before workouts (yogurt is a good choice).  Be sure to have some high protein mixed w/ carbs IMMEDIATELY after a workout (protein powder mixed w/ berries or a good cheap alternative to protein shakes is plain old chocolate milk or make an omlet).  And save your big carb intake of the day for about an hour or two after your workouts.

Tuesday Motivation

Hi, everybody! How did day 1 go???

Meghan, I have a great 15 minute post-run yoga series that is restorative- opens your hamstrings, hips, and low back.  I'll post that on Thursday.

Everybody, don't allow yourself to feel discouragement at the enormity of your lifestyle change!  It's tiny step by tiny step.  Relish in every minute success!!!  Everybody share a tiny success from yesterday or today!!!

I like mental chatter makeovers.  We all have minds that chatter at us a mile a minute whether for good or for ill.  So how can you change that mental troll into a mental supportive coach?  Does anyone have any ideas to share?  Check out this article Reboot Your Exercise Motivation from Fitness Magazine:

You Think: "The scale is stuck. Why bother?"

Rethink: "This pudge will budge."

• Stick with the scale: Love it and you'll probably lose pounds. In a study at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, of 3,026 adults who were watching their waistlines, those who weighed themselves more frequently lost more weight over two years or regained fewer pounds. This research backs up the benefits of daily weigh-ins, but weekly may do the trick: Three-quarters of the successful long-term slimmers listed in the National Weight Control Registry step on the scale at least once a week. "Plateaus are part of the process," says Kim H. Miller, PhD, associate professor of health promotion at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Stay motivated in the meantime by giving yourself credit for how much better your clothes fit and for improving your overall health.

Redo: Rev up your routine

• "As your metabolism changes to accommodate your smaller size, you are going to have to change what you're doing to coax your body to keep responding and shedding fat," Miller says. If you're eating light already (around 1,500 calories a day), don't cut back more; turn up the intensity and/or increase the length of your workout session a smidge.  This will not only burn more calories but also increase your cardio capacity, meaning that everything feels easier to do, so you can keep exercising. Crank the resistance on your stationary bike, push the pace of your walk or run for one-minute intervals, or add step-ups or jumping jacks between sets of toning moves: The cardio-strength mix of circuit training burns 512 calories per hour, more than double that of lifting alone.

You Think: "I can't do another rep."
Rethink: "My biceps rock!"

• Need a lift? Just psyching yourself up while you're strength training can increase your muscle power by 8 percent, according to a study from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Wintec, Waikato Institute of Technology in New Zealand; you'll reap about 12 percent more power imagining those perfect lifts versus when you're distracted. Depending on how pooped your arms are, "mental imagery could help to activate additional motor units," says Brad Hatfield, PhD, professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland in College Park, stimulating muscle fibers enough to help eke out more curls.

Redo: Dumb(bell) it down

• If you can't muster more reps at the same weight, go lighter. Decrease the amount that you're lifting in 10 percent increments until you can finish the set with good form, suggests Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance gym in Boca Raton, Florida. "The bigger the effort, the bigger your body's response will be," he says. That means netting some 46 percent greater strength gains by doing two or three sets compared with only one, says a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. And don't beat yourself up: Pushing your limits just a little further gets you firming results you'll feel, Santana says.

You Think: "Run a mile? Me? Not!"
Rethink: "Hey, doesn't that jogger look like Brad Pitt?"

• When you're trying to slog through that first -- or extra -- mile, shift your attention to the things around you, says Alan St. Clair Gibson, PhD, MD, chair of sport sciences at Northumbria University in England: "You might slow down, but it will help you keep going." Also add a can-do mental mantra, like "I'm a running machine!" to put more mettle in your pedals.

Redo: Divide and conquer

• Split your run into walking and running parts at first, says Joe Puleo, head cross country and track-and-field coach at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, and coauthor of Running Anatomy. Jog a quarter of a mile, walk for half a mile, and finish by jogging another quarter. As you improve, stretch out the jogging and shrink the walking segment before jogging that final quarter mile. Do this three or four times a week and "you'll be able to run the whole distance in about six weeks," Puleo says.

You Think: "I hurt my knee. There goes exercise for a month."
Rethink: "Pilates, here I come!"

• Your body starts to lose conditioning within three days of your becoming a couch potato. If that ain't enough to light a fire under you, tell yourself that there's more than one way to reach your exercise goal, says Trent Petrie, PhD, director of the Center for Sport Psychology at the University of North Texas in Denton. "Write down all the negative things you're thinking, and next to those, reframe them into more positive statements," he says. For example, "What a downer; I can't kickbox" becomes "Oh, well, now I'll finally pop in that Abs of Steel workout DVD."

Redo: Pull a switcheroo

• Dance class is out, but there are plenty of low- or no-impact exercise options that melt fat. Depending on your injury, moderate elliptical training (416 calories an hour), cycling (512 calories), or jogging in water (512 calories) can be an appropriate alternative, says Robert S. Gotlin, DO, director of orthopedic and sports rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and editor of Sports Injuries Guidebook. But if just bending your knee causes pain, Dr. Gotlin suggests shifting your cardio to your top half by using an upper body ergometer (a hand crank that you'll find in some gyms) or hitting a boxing bag. See your doc to be sure which route is best for you.

Meghan & Mini Me, you're such great inspirations for cross training and finding other workouts when an injury threatens to get you down and also in prevention of future injuries.  Go, you!
Michele, Amy C., Maggie, Nicki, & Meghan, you ladies are such great inspirations for starting a new challenge like becoming runners!  Such bravery and determination to do those first run/walk combos that you have undertaken!  And oh my gosh, look at how awesome you're doing!  Amy, Maggie, & Meghan doing Halfies?!?!?!  It all starts somewhere! Be brave.  Go, you!
Marianne, that "my biceps rock" rethink up above made me think of you instantly.  What a positive patsy you are!  Everbody can learn to just shake off what you can't fix and just rock at changing your mind to be positive!  Go, you!
And all the other ladies on this blog, GO, YOUUUU!!!!!! for being here! For kicking the royal trash out of your excuses and taking no pity! Go gettum!!!!  You rock!

Monday Morning Check-In: Day One

Good morning, girls!

I'm excited for a fresh start here!
Please check in, let us know your goals for this challenge, and what your game plan is going to be. Offer encouragement to one another. LeT's GeT rEaDy To RuMbLe!!!! :)

For me, weigh-in this morning was humbling. This challenge I'd like to lose 10 lbs to get me to my lightest. I am looking forward to returning to intentional, deliberate, nutrititious, well-balanced eating of high-octane foods. My game plan is to not freak out or get overwhelmed at the enormity of it, but to take each pound by the horns, challenge it, conquer it, and then and only then look at the next pound. I will glory in the mini-successes. I'm doing this for me, because I'm the only person who can change me and make healthy choices second nature instead of a deprivation. I'm the only person who can change my attitude, who can buckle down in determination, and who can internalize my goals and dreams into outward actions. Oh, and I'm gonna drink more water :) Reward will be a new pair of running shoes (I've been cruising 10 months on these puppies).

Remember that weight loss goals, as with all goals, are extremely personal and we will only see success if you've set the goal for yourself- you can't use goals others have set for you- it must come from internal desires, dreams, and determination or it won't happen.

I can't wait to hear your goals, motivation behind your goals, & what your rewards are going to be! Please share!

Don't forget to enter your starting weight and your starting body measurements in your MFP profile so that you'll have something to gauge your progress by during this challenge!